Stable Solution: You're either 'Nexus' or worth a 'Fortune'

In professional wrestling, to keep people attracted to shows and companies, they have to offer a wide range of storylines/wrestlers/merchandise/TV, and one way which entices the viewer back is through the use of a ‘Stable’ (Or a ‘Faction’). Not to be confused by a tag team (Consisting of two individual wrestlers) stables are a group of wrestlers unified together with a common likeness and purpose. The stable will have its own look or personality. The group are either good guys (Faces) or bad guys (Heels) and on television have a lot of powers because of numbers advantages and management pulling. If you’re a wrestling fan some names you might be recognised with are “The Four Horsemen”, “The Midnight Express”, “The Millionaires Club”, “New Blood”, “The nWo”, and if you’re a recent follower of mainstream wrestling “The Main Event Mafia”, “Legacy”, “Fortune” which is a remake of the famous Four Horsemen, TNA’s supersize faction “Immortal” and the biggest thing right now in the WWE, “The Nexus”.

Before going into detail, I’ll explain stables, what they do, what they usually look for, how they act and so forth. Stables usually consist of three or more people, depending on how powerful the individuals in your stable are, the more convincing a small group is. A good example of this is the original nWo which boasted megastars of the time Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.  Stables usually through their numbers and power dictate a lot of what goes on television, they have immense pulling power with management and booking teams (Stables who don’t have any power never, EVER last, an example would be ‘World Elite’ in TNA), and most importantly they shape what a promotion such as the WWE will be promoting for the foreseeable future. Stables usually huddle together on television looking for championship gold and power, or are bound together for a cause or for the greater good of those specific individuals. Having watched stable after stable on television the early days of a stable are usually the most flourishing, the wrestlers in the group usually win all their scripted matches, and they usually are in backstage segments more. If the group are heel, they are usually fighting to keep control of power, fighting off a host of baby face wrestlers, or a face stable (Which you don’t see many off nowadays, well successful ones anyway). Stables usually end at a company’s big PPV (Main Event Mafia at Bound for Glory 2009, and many are predicting the breakup of Nexus at Wrestlemania 27), or usually start at a big event, usually where these wrestlers are unified. It comes to no surprise then that the majority of stables are never older than two years old because of booking, wrestlers coming and going from one promotion to another, and because they simply run their course.

Believe it or not though, a lot of promotions haven’t favoured stables in this recent decade, rather focusing on big selling solo stars to make money, because it’s easier to change the individual and their storylines, rather than an entire group. However stables and big factions appear to be back on the rise, not to say though that this is a good thing, especially in the case of TNA and Immortal. Possibly the biggest stable ever, the one which got people talking the most has to be “The nWo”. They were there in the right place, at the right time. They done the right things at the right time, and most importantly Hulk Hogan turned heel at exactly the right time. When the nWo were in their prime they had the biggest wrestling audience, and their execution of playing three rebels in WCW was perfect, that’s what made the nWo so good. Hulk Hogan ditched the red and yellow, for the black and white, and along with Nash and Hall they had the recipe for success, which WCW desperately needed, but not only that, the angle pulled off because the members of the nWo were three former WWF (WWE) superstars, so there was a big conspiracy that they had been sent by Vince McMahon to kill WCW within. It was the ultimate in being a stable, but then something well, went wrong. Suddenly the popularity of the nWo meant everyone had to do it. ECW had the bWo, Vince and the WWF started aligning stars, and the craze of the moment really just killed it. The nWo tried new things, changed the line up of members in the group, started making break off groups, Randy Savage even joined, it just got silly, and that is just what happens every single time, it gets silly, unbelievable, and tiresome to watch. It’s like changing the recipe to your Nan’s sweet chocolate cake, it just isn’t the same.

But as 2010 comes to a close there is one light at the end of the tunnel that stables might just get it right, and that comes in the shape of “Fortune”, a four man group of wrestlers in TNA (Total Nonstop Action). Created by Ric Flair, the man who defined The Four Horsemen was looking to recreate the success of the Horsemen with a new group of young aspiring wrestlers in TNA. Like the nWo, the group has come around at the right time, with the right wrestlers, fighting for a cause which makes sense, the look is interesting, and the wrestlers in the group are perfect. After Lockdown 2010, Flair said that he was looking for the very best of the best, and it just happens the best is four TNA originals: AJ Styles, Kazarian, James Storm and Robert Roode. All four have been in TNA from the very beginning, and the main purpose is to take back ‘their’ company after a host of other stars who haven’t paid their dues in TNA invaded, so they embarked in a feud with EV2, a faction of former ECW wrestlers. Fortune promised to eliminate EV2, and they did just that, it put Fortune over; it made them a massive stable, one with all the right motion for success. The group are actually well blended. They have the tag team (Beer Money) in Storm and Roode, the great up and comer in Kazarian, and the big attraction in AJ Styles, as well as the perfect tutor; Ric Flair. Fortune are one example of a well thought out and executed Stable, but there is a downside. They are now in control of TNA, and nothing has got better. They aligned with Immortal the very first Impact after Bound for Glory. In fact, the huge supersize faction of Immortal is actually stifling TNA into a backwards motion, the show quality has decreased at an alarming rate, and Fortune are helping solidifying the backwards turn in TNA, ever though they delivered on their promise of running TNA.

In wrestling there are two types of wrestler. A chaser and a champion. Chasers are those who chase championship gold, and are good at it, but not the best champion, where as the champion is the man holding the power and the championship belts, come across as a better title holder, and not exactly the best chaser. The question begs for wrestling fans. If stables do nothing good when they get in power, why on earth should they be in power in the first place? Why aren’t they always chasing, and never getting what they want? It would make sense in that perspective as it wouldn’t harm the company’s profits or future, but wrestlers like most people have something many common men have: AN EGO! Hulk Hogan is the number one culprit. His nickname is “The Immortal”. His power controlling faction in TNA is called “Immortal”. They will soon have all championship belts in the form of Jeff Hardy & Fortune. Hogan calls all the shots, does everything, he has to be in the limelight, and it’s all about me, me, and me in Hogan’s books, because it always has to be about Hogan, right? But if a stable isn’t after the Hulk Hogan lifestyle, what are they after? Enter Nexus.

“The Nexus” without a doubt are thee breakout group of 2010. Since their arrival on June 7^th 2010. Like Fortune they formed at the right time, with the right people. The WWE started a new, innovative show called “NXT”, a show which was looking for the next breakout star in the WWE. Wade Barrett won the very first competition and was the only one of eight wrestlers to receive a contract with the WWE, and on the following Monday Night RAW, winner Barrett and the seven others interfered during a main event of John Cena v. CM Punk, the match was thrown out because the Nexus stormed the ring, destroyed absolutely everything in their way and vowed to get revenge for the stupid tasks they were forced to do on the NXT show. Right place, right time. And instead of aiming for championship gold, they focused their attention on John Cena, the WWE’s cash cow and fan favourite.  Nexus kept destroying Cena until they eventually got Cena to join the group after Wade Barrett defeated Cena at WWE Hell in a Cell. My point being, the WWE made the Nexus a mainstay on the roster through their promotion with John Cena. It appears there is stable condition with the Nexus and stables in general, but in the case of the Nexus, unlike Fortune the Nexus regularly lose and are made to look weak by Cena and other top stars, however the group are more popular and gain more attention because of WWE PG programming.

I entitled this blog “Stable Solution” because it appears there is a major concern with what current stables represent, and how they are negatively influencing the business. In the case of Fortune and Immortal, TNA is slowly but surely isolating their hardcore, loyalist fan base (Myself being one of that number). TNA have not learnt from the mistakes of the past, and it appears they have wound the clock back ten years, and because of who runs the company they believe having a 1997 approach to stables, and just because they have the name Hulk Hogan running the group that Immortal will actually turn TNA around, when in reality it’s doing nothing more than putting even more nails in the coffin. But here’s the dilemma, the stable within Immortal, Fortune are actually one of the main attractions, but yet they aren’t helping the company. Whereas Fortune look good, on countless occasions the Nexus look bad, but yet they are considered the future of pro wrestling? What do you do? Make a well liked group like Fortune, make them powerful but pay the price, or dumb down the wrestling audience, with a watered down group such as The Nexus?

Stables can influence the very future of wrestling, and present more than one in ring issue, because believe it or not the outcomes of big stables has actually made and broke the industry. It is only ever a big stable which does it, just look at WCW, the war with WWF, and the current state of TNA and you must question not only if stables have a future, but if promotions like TNA have a future. If they see a need to replicate from the past, they might just become history themselves, if promotions worldwide keep recycling storylines (Ones that weren’t particularly good in the first place, but tried and tested), then I imagine that in the not too distant future, many disgruntled TNA fans may be recycling their branded TNA T-Shirts and just stop tuning in all together, all because one ‘Immortal’ stable think they can live forever.

Robert Austin

“In Ring Issues”

Castaways: Why the jobber is the better man.

In any competition, all aspects of life and throughout the course of your life there are always winners and losers. In the wrestling world, losers are referred to as ‘Jobbers’ mainly because wrestling is a scripted sport, and losing in this context just isn’t the same. The term jobber though isn’t used by promotions, wrestlers never, ever cite the word ‘jobber’ on television or live shows because the word is a fan made construction that smart fans use, and the actual term takes away from the mystique of the shows, and takes away from the reality that promotions try to promote. Some of you who are not so caught up in the wrestling reality might be asking yourself the question of why even bother, well the answer is quite simple really, there are countless wrestlers looking for paid employment, so if losing a few scripted wrestling matches puts food on the table, then so be it. It might damage your wrestling personality/character, but from a wrestlers perspective it should be seen as a job, right?

Wrestling needs these jobbers to survive, and these men and women are the ones who are provide that equal balance for promotions. I’ll take the WWE as a good example of this. Many smart fans predict what will happen at each Pay-Per-View or big live show on television because the current state of the product is very predictable, mainly because you know who the jobber is before the actual event. The WWE is simple television in this respect, because winners of matches are so straight forward once you know the names. The big names in the business are those who you all might recognise at home, or be able to name if you saw his picture. Examples are The Undertaker, Triple H, Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, Edge, Randy Orton, Batista, and the superman of professional wrestling, the man who never loses, the invincible once, the undefeatable, god of all gods, the holy grail of all wrestlers, the man who has a global army of supporters, an instantly recognisable face, a movie actor (Well not a very good one), a fighting champion, a man who can carry any wrestling promotion into greatness, he is the man we all love to fear, the man wrestling purists love to loath, a multi-time world champion, he is life, word life.. JOHN CENA!!

I use John Cena as my example, well because he never, ever loses. The only time he ever gets pinned or submitted is when there is an outside interference, or down to a circumstance that is out of his hands. The last time he was pinned 1.. 2.. 3.. in the middle of the squared circle was at a wrestling event was at the Pay-Per-View (PPV) “WWE Hell in a Cell” 2010, where he lost to the notoriously evil (and English) Wade Barrett, leader of breakout group “The Nexus”. Here’s the funny thing though, Cena only lost because two wrestlers who wanted to join ‘Nexus’ (A group of ‘rookie’ wrestlers who joined forces to all get a contract, after the end of WWE NXT season one, which Barrett won). Cena was ambushed, and Barrett one the match because of the interference. However, what made the match predictable was the stipulation of the match. If Cena was to lose he would be forced to join Nexus, and if Barrett lost, Nexus would disband. It had the fans of the WWE completely thrown, and even some smart fans were questioning whether they thought John Cena, the man who never loses would actually be pinned by a wrestler who has been in the WWE for ten years less, and compared to Cena had no accomplishments. But however, we already knew the Nexus was staying around as they were being advertised for the following PPV. In this case the jobber (Cena) provided an intriguing storyline to continue, all in the name of losing.

Jobbers in general are there as ‘supporting cast’ to the main cast (The winners, the storytellers), and half the time are actually as good as or better than the guy they are wrestling and eventually losing to. Jobbers still get paid, and get the honour to face the guys at the very top of the card, for example a Kurt Angle, or Undertaker, so in that term it is good promotion for the loser of the match, as he will be getting extended airtime because of the calibre of wrestler they are facing. When thinking about one jobber who just loves what he is doing in this respect, the man who puts over the winners more than ever, for the greater good, is current TNA superstar Tommy Dreamer. Known as the ‘innovator of violence’ in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Dreamer has become famous and made a loving out of losing. When the WWE decided to bring back ECW as a third brand in 2005, Dreamer lost the majority of his matches despite being the only ECW original on the show. Dreamer was putting over all the guys the WWE wanted to push, and getting paid to do it. In TNA, Dreamer is doing the same, losing to the few young, upcoming stars in TNA, who haven’t been forced down by Hulk Hogan and his legion of old men (See blog 2# ‘reliance on older superstars’ for more into this). The advantages of having a designated jobber such as Dreamer is having the luxury of planning even better storylines and future matches without having to worry about the superstar having a backstage tantrum or hissy fit on Twitter or Facebook, damaging the wrestlers own reputation. Also from a company standpoint, they are there to make a profit, so if the jobber is making a wrestler look better, thus hopefully making more money, then they will see a share of the profit and make more money themselves. Plus places for big shows are small, especially in big companies, so having to lose to be on a show (As big as Wrestlemania or Bound for Glory) might be the only way to become famous or earn money, but like with the example of Dreamer, and Ric Flair even (Who is actually putting over younger stars in TNA, such as Matt Morgan, Jay Lethal and AJ Styles) it might be for the love of wrestling which means they are sacrificed that much to make themselves look weak to a national audience (Especially with some fans which think wrestling is real).

Put yourself in the shoes of a jobber for one moment. You have to face a wrestler who is only going to win because he is either new to the company or the creative writing team are high on the chosen wrestler, and be told you have to lie down and lose for this not so talented wrestler (Especially to someone like John Cena, who has a grand total of five wrestling moves), it could get demining, and there is a saying in the wrestling business that you should only be in it if you aim for the top, well either these jobbers are just waiting for their time to shine as winners and championship holders, or they have no lust to get to the top.

Jobbing is an in ring issue, because as a devoted wrestling fan, sometimes those booking matches just get it wrong. For me, in 2010 there is a lot to be answered for in terms of booking. TNA’s, ROH’s and WWE’s in particular booking for me has gone into a downward spiral, where only the big, muscle men, jacked up on protein shake, sporting shoulders the size of basketballs (Check out Ezekiel Jackson, he is insane), or the undeserving superstars are winning without justification, Jeff Hardy is a standout, because since returning to TNA in January, his performances in the ring are dyer, his promo work and PR of the company has been awful, he has sucked beyond belief. Hardy doesn’t fit the TNA model, yet was handed everything, whilst stars of the X Division and Women’s division are busting their asses off for smaller pay, less reward, less TV time and less credit. But one thing is for sure, being a jobber takes a bigger person, it takes dedication, and patience, but if you ever asked a fan like myself to lay down for John Cena, I’d tell the bookers to bite my shiny metal ass!

Robert Austin

“In Ring Issues”

Why is there a reliance on older superstars/wrestlers?

Many who watch wrestling will look at older stars and say “what on earth are they doing?”, “They can’t wrestle..” and sometimes when you see an older athlete, for example to see an old, withered, Ric Flair bleed with nothing more than tights trunks or his boxer shorts on national television it’s more than enough to make you turn over the television to something more pleasant to say the least. But it begs the question? Why are there still people over fifty in the ring, competing? There is a saying in wrestling that if you don’t like it, lump it, but how can watching a man, or a group of men old enough to be your grandfathers getting destroyed in a wrestling ring enjoyable? More to the point, why do the bookers book it? What is there to gain from it, and what as viewers is there to gain from it?

Recently TNA (Total Nonstop Action – For some wrestling newbies) television has been invaded by a wave of the old guard. In October 2009, after years of success with X-Division (High flying, death defying) and Knockout (Women) competitors, TNA president Dixie Carter announced that Hulk Hogan would be joining TNA, and would be making his TV debut on January 4^th 2010. Hogan is a worldwide name, one of the most popular names in the world in fact, but was born in 1953 (Making him 57 for those who can’t quite add up). Hogan has had countless surgeries throughout his illustrious career, and nobody can deny it, Hogan made wrestling mainstream. As wrestling fans we ‘should’ be indebted to the Hulkster and his yellow and red rise of pro wrestling in the late 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s, which has made pro wrestling what it is today, but that’s what Hogan made it, and unfortunately for some he is still make that same history, but is what Hogan doing now going to further the business, or hold backs its very future? Hogan made his name in the WWF and WCW where he became a twelve time world champion, six times in each federation. He is famous for the red and yellow of WWF, his slam heard round the world against Andre, his WrestleMania heroics (And downfalls, against the Ultimate Warrior at WM XII) most proximately, and in WCW for his monumental heel turn and being the leader of the most famous wrestling faction of all time; the nWo. With that said, he has already passed the torch, he made it possible for companies to get exposure, but what the hell is he still doing in the business? What business does he have with TNA, a company which once prided itself on the young, rising stars such as AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Kazarian, who all now play second fiddle to Ric Flair, Eric Bischoff and Hogan within the company.

Hogan, along with Flair can no longer wrestle, wrestling fans don’t want to see it, but we got it anyway. After the painstaking January 4^th TNA Impact, where the fans in Orlando, Florida (Where TNA film their shows) where chanting “bullshit” in the very first match over a decision to have a DQ in a cage match should say it all. That night Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, X-Pac, Sting and a host of older talent stole the show. The one thing fans will remember though was the brilliant, five star, world class match between AJ Styles (c) and Kurt Angle for the TNA World Championship. The point being, Hogan can’t wrestle, others like Kevin Nash can barely wrestle, Sting has little and less desire each year to wrestle, Scott Hall just ends back up in rehab every time he returns to the ring. One suspicion is that those booking (Bookers are those that write the shows, script the matches, organise the shows and decide the winners from the losers) federations have little or no interest in current superstars and storylines, and they are closely aligned to the stars of yesteryear and know their capabilities to entice and draw a crowd. Wrestling is still about selling and making a profit, so having the names such as Hogan on your payroll will win you a bigger TV contract, video game deals, more interest in the company, more investors and with the big names from the past, more fans, right?.. Well no, not really. In this case, in 2010 TNA has on average got worse ratings than the same show was getting three years ago, when they still cared about the younger stars and heavily on the women.

However, don’t think I’m being biased. The WWE brought back Bret Hart the same night as Hogan returned, and heavily relied on old star power at WrestleMania XXVI to sell their biggest show of the year, headlined by Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker (A match which also happened at the previous Wrestlemania). Older wrestlers it appears have leverage in companies and can dictate their own future’s at the younger talents expenses. A look at WrestleMania winners this year will prove this point. In his match with Triple H, how much bigger would Sheamus be if he had defeated the King of Kings? Ring of Honour (A smaller, still independent based promotion, who have a contract on HDNet in the US) also have fallen victim to this trend. ROH appointed cash strapped Ric Flair as their ambassador and promoted shows around Flair over hugely promising talent such as Tyler Black, Nigel McGuiness and Bryan Danielson.

Another key concept is money. In the case of Hogan he had gone through a pricy divorce with former wife, Linda, so many would argue Hogan jumped  on the TNA bandwagon to promote his newly published book and leach off a prospering company, the same can be said for Flair and Bret Hart. Bookers know that if an older star is desperate they can have them on their books for even cheaper, so why shouldn’t bookers have the services of proven crowd-drawer Hulk Hogan for half price?

However this over reliance on old stars in mainly American companies is damaging the state of the wrestling product. TNA Knockouts Division, the very best women’s division in the world were only paying top stars such as Gail Kim and Awesome Kong (A proven TV draw for audiences) between $200-$400 per appearance not including travel and expenses such as car rental, whereas ex WWE cast-off Mr. Anderson is reportedly paid $2100 per appearance, covering expenses, and Anderson isn’t even an established main event superstar. Needless to say the women demanded a small pay increase, and TNA declined, thus losing two of their top stars in the process. Not only were Kong and Kim proven crowd pleasers, but the signings of older stars like Hogan, Flair, and modern, costly expenses Anderson and Jeff Hardy in TNA has actually decreased viewership around the world, making the cheque books unbalanced, destabilising wrestling further.

But it’s not all negative towards older stars. That’s all that’s been talked about. What about the new stars? The so called rising stars, where are they? That’s basically the point. No one has stepped up to the plate to the level of a Hogan, or has the leverage in management like a Bret Hart in any federation to change it. Stars of today are either not pushing their weight or actually cruising off the benefits stars from the Attitude Era (Mid 90’s – Early 2000’s) or are being purposely kept back by the older talent, just because they don’t want their own name tarnished. For me, the biggest let-down is that older stars believe they are actually watchable on television to the extent they were. Pay-Per-View buy-rates might disagree, but ask anybody what the most watchable stars in pro-wrestling are, and they will bring up names such as The Motor City Machineguns, Generation Me, Wade Barrett, Evan Bourne, Bryan Danielson, Tyler Black, The Briscoe Brothers, Yugi Nagata, Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio just to name a few. If you’re a regular viewer, you’ll know the pain of watching an old star, but yes it is good to see them in the show in some format, but in the ring... No, no.

Will the wrestling audience be lost without the old names floating about, no? Will the older stars be respected as they should? Do viewers laugh at Ric Flair, of course, sometimes his lines are hilarious, but we live in a different time, a different generation, and there is a new audience as the WWE have found out with their PG programming. We always want to watch something new, its simple evolution. New over the long run, in this case in wrestling is better. I’m not saying that all change is good; some change like Robbie E. is bad, but hey at least it is something I can say will keep me in the chair longer than it will for Hulk Hogan to wipe his own ass, or until that mental image is firmly implanted in your heads. That way, wrestling in late 2010 will get its chance to breathe a new golden age, before it’s too late, and we have to sit through the “Same old shit” like John Cena winning the world title at the granddaddy of them all for the next ten years running.

Robert Austin

“In Ring Issues”

Wrestling heart, wrestling desire. Where does it all come from?

Being a wrestling fan isn’t just straight forward. To keep an interest in the ‘sports entertainment’ world you have to be regularly up to date with the product you watch, whether it be independent shows, low rate cable shows or global shows such as TNA and the monster of them all, the WWE. It goes without saying really that a fan should have a vested interest in whatever they are passively or actively watching because otherwise you simply won’t get what is going on or easily criticise the product without having proper knowledge. For most wrestling fans they are sucked into the wrestling reality as children or young adults, being forced or enticed to watch DVD’s or TV shows featuring larger than life characters such as The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Andre The Giant, Triple H, Ric Flair, or for more modern viewers John Cena, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, Edge, Chris Jericho and AJ Styles. Regardless of how you get into the world of wrestling something sticks, whether you like it or not. Wrestling in these modern times is a lot like marmite: You either love it, or hate it!

If you’re not a fan of wrestling, or have little information of what it is, I’ll tell you. Professional Wrestling is a scripted, athletic sport; some people define it as “Sports Entertainment”, or for purists “Professional Wrestling”. Trained professionals tell stories in heated feuds to an audience which ultimately result in a match between the feuding pair or group. These events take place in federations, and within that take place in the weekly shows and Pay-Per-Views (PPV’s), just don’t anger a wrestling fan about the sport being fake whenever brought up in a conversation, we already know that, we watch because it is a male (and increasingly female) soap opera which fans have had a vested interest in.

Wrestling goes beyond the television. Personally live shows are electrifying and well worth the money; the charity work federations do is amazing, the risk and reward, the tolls and strains these professional athletes go through is simply amazing. The dedication fans have to one product is astonishing, however wrestling fans like to keep their love for the product to a minimum to their friends (mostly because they don’t understand it, and will find it easily to ridicule) even if they buy the merchandise, get the posters, order the PPV’s, watch the shows and collect the DVD’s. Fans nowadays keep their passion for the wrestling world online, where it is impossible to get ridiculed by a snobby friend, or judgemental parents, and just easier to enjoy it. Forums are a key vocal point for fans, social networking sites, particularly Twitter, Facebook and Bebo host hot debate and even virtual online wrestling (Often referred to as E’fedding), as well as websites dedicated solely to wrestling news, rumours, spoilers, superstar updates which make the wrestling universe accessible.

This blog is purely an introduction. I’ve been a wrestling fan since I can remember, go to live shows, always keep up to date with on goings in the wrestling world, buy the merchandise, watch the shows, and have a good knowledge of what is going down, and what is looking up in the wrestling world. This blog is strictly wrestling, going beyond normal views and opinions and expanding them to reach out to you, the audience, and hopefully I will demonstrate the “In Ring Issues” of yesterday, today and the future which will forever dictate wrestling.

Robert Austin.

“In Ring Issues”